User Reviews

I will start this review off by saying I'm going to give away major spoilers - but I will put them at the bottom for those who don't want this spoilt in the first few lines.

The series is watchable, and I think my 6/10 is very fair, there is some good acting, and I think overall it's well put together - I do believe as another reviewer has said, it's forgettable tho.

Laura Fraser unfortunately as the main actor seems to have one shocked facial expression through out the 6 episodes and I found her character difficult to connect with - she isn't dislikable or likeable.

The side stories are ok, and I don't feel it was dragged out but my major issue really is with the story ending itself.

MAJOR SPOILER:

We find out that the real murderer is in fact the daughter - it wasn't an accident, she didn't push him and he hit his head, or kill him in self defence. Instead she decided to take a plastic bag and suffocate him because he wasn't interested in the fact she was carrying his baby.

That was it - he wasn't a nice person, so she decided to end his life. The parents eventually find out about this and instead of doing the right thing, the Mother decides to take the blame. She is scuppered in doing this and instead allows her best friend to take the blame and go to jail - cue sentimental music and montage at the end of mother and pregnant daughter all thoughtful and reconnecting with each other.

Are we meant to be feeling warm and fuzzy at this point ? Because I wasn't - I was shouting at the TV as to how both parents (one being a police officer) thought it ok for their daughter to walk free after murdering someone whilst an innocent friend goes to jail.

That to me is absolute rubbish - and ruined the whole series. I won't be angry for long because I will forget entirely about this series by next week, but still, it irked me quite a bit.

...nice music and opening titles though.

This was the question I wanted answered all the way through - so felt cheated when it wasn't.

Setting was lovely, good and nasty characters, unbelievable story line with some really horrible scenarios so I watched and waited to see who pulled up his trousers - I liked it... a bit!

The whole plot is nonsensical to begin with - grown women with functioning brains would have just come clean straight away so that they could be ruled out, as a stupid prank is nothing compared to murder.

My biggest frustration was how casually child exploitation was mixed into the plot, only for it to have no follow-up AT ALL. It only served to explain a suicide and to make us slightly sympathetic towards a character otherwise extremely horrible.

I thought they'd bring it up again to explain why this grown man targeted a school aged girl (I'm assuming this, given she had a school uniform on when they meet), but of course they didn't. Why get serious when you can instead go with a stupid twist that serves absolutely no purpose?

My favourite bit was the lady randomly making a move at the priest. Should have gone for it, since she's just going to spend the rest of her days in prison anyway.

4 friends get caught up in the death of their boss. A who dunnit of sorts. Worth watching some good aspects. The ending is as frustrating as a jigsaw puzzle with the last piece missing.

Spoilers: No relateable characters and no-one you really feel sorry for or connect with. Once again we have corrupt police, a common theme on BBC. Unbelievable ending with the CCTV catching a speeding car but not the bikes the two children were riding. How do you keep up with a car on a bike? Not even Lance Armstrong at the height of his career could do that. Also what was the point of the credit card being left at the scene? Barring the final episode where it all went wrong it was worth watching.

I'm not sure what planet those who produced this series are on ? The first 4 episodes went along quite happily with twists all the way.

However, the final 2 episodes descended into utter farce and fantasy. That Tamsin's godmother should be happy taking the rap is difficult enough to believe, but that the family should also be happy to live with themselves- especially Tamsin is absurd. As a moral tale, what does it also say that her father, a policeman, is happy to go along with this story ? In the end, totally unbelievable and farcical.

This is a so-so, watchable mini-series that uses twists and turns to keep the interest up rather than create believable or likable characters. The actors are a mix of good and hammy.

The series is a bit annoying, but watchable if you're desperate for some BBC mystery, until the last episode or two which nose dive into the ridiculous and leave you wondering wtf did I just watch?

Everyone has something to hide, no one is perfect, which would be fine except that it feels like we are supposed to root for the women making deplorable decisions and to think they are the 'good guys.' They may not be perfect but their houses and clothing are, which seem to belong to much wealthier people than this bunch of factory workers.

SPOILERS AHEAD: In the end the entire group covers up the actual killer in order to save her, then they let her Godmother take the wrap for her. Then the sun shines again, the Godmother becomes a saint and is forgiven for her misdeeds (which are in themselves completely bonkers) and the world goes on spinning. There are some preaching lines about actions having consequences and yet the message in this series appears to be to not take responsibility at any cost.

Am I to believe the daughter/killer is a sociopath? Because she would have to be to allow her Godmother to rot in jail for a murder she committed while she goes off and plays house with her new baby. Her parents are complete idiots - who could live with their beloved friend spending her life in a jail cell for your kid's crime? Who would think it was a good idea to not make your daughter own up to what she did so she could have a chance of someday getting past it?

Is this a statement on parents who will go to any length to fix their Millennial children's mistakes? I have no idea what the point of this series is. Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe the whole point of this frustrating series is that no one has any morals anymore.

This might take a while.

If your background is writing soap operas and the odd episode of a well established drama then when you venture into different territories then the least you can do is some basic research on the fundamentals.

There are enough investigative police dramas/thrillers around that we've all seen and they range from excellent to rubbish.

To stand out from the pack then you need an understanding of three things: 1: The basics of the way that police investigate crimes 2: The technology available to them 3: The law So when all these are basically ignored then you need to have a plot which demands attention and characters who take decisions in a way that suggests some sort of rational thought, and also characters who are consistent.

This could have been over and done with if they'd called the police to start with, but no. Let's portray these characters as simpletons.

None of them seem to have a clue about GPS tracking on mobile phones which the police could have used to place them at the scene of the crime within an hour or two after the start of the investigation.

None of them seem to care about leaving footprints, DNA, (Wash the boot doesn't cut it) or CCTV camera footage.

The police were completely inept in just about every way possible (You should investigate all leads, gather data and then that will lead you to the main suspects).

The one lawyer is a cardboard cutout of what people who don't know anything about the law think that lawyers do.

I could go on, but after the first episode I thought it was trash and like my favourite laugh-a-thon (The Following) I was hooked simply because I couldn't imagine it getting worse.

But it did.

The casting, cinematography and acting were excellent, so that's why it gets 2/10, but the plot seems like it was written by pasting together all the worst bits discarded by better writers of better series, whatever the genre.

Four friends play a practical joke on their odious, young employer, but that joke becomes a living nightmare for all those concerned.

Peter McTighe, possibly familiar to fans of Dr Who, he penned one decent, and one poor episode, Kerblam and Praxeus, he along with Show runner Chris Chibnall shows that although sci fi may not be his forte, crime dramas certainly are.

This is a brilliant series, it's exciting, intriguing, baffling and absolutely addictive. The characters are beautifully drawn, and wonderfully acted, what they feel, get up to, and do matters somehow.

Superb acting throughout, Julie Hesmondhalgh really does stand out, what a true talent she is, but all involved were amazing.

More like this please, incredibly good, possibly the most anticipation I've felt since the first series of Broadchurch.

Loved it. 9/10.